The Lean Mining methodology based on Lean Mining Program is described. The goal of a Lean Mining enterprise to develop and apply innovation to create efficient processes that better meet the needs of internal customers, while eliminating non value add activities are discussed.

Three decades of progress in mining safety from the Ham Commission, the Burkett commission, the Stevenson Report to the present OHS Review and the Technology and Management of Change recommendations are reviewed. An attempt to identify what's needed to ensure safe conditions in mining for the next 3 decades is made.

Water management is one of the top priority issues for the minerals industry worldwide. Mining uses a lot of water, and responsible mine water management is critical for positive environmental, economic, and social outcomes of any mining operation. This has become even more important as water quality regulations become increasingly stringent and climate change science predicts increasing severity of droughts and storm events. This talk will discuss the main uses of water in mining and some...

In this study, a set of geological simulations of the LabMag taconite deposit in Labrador, Canada was generated in order to quantify the geological variability in an existing mining schedule and assess the schedule’s performance. Subsequently, a production schedule optimization based on stochastic integer programming (SIP) was developed to improve mine profitability while simultaneously managing the risk of production tonnage and quality deviations.

This presentation will explore whether bacterial populations over buried mineralisation change significantly and sufficiently robustly to be used as a mineral exploration tool. Previous work over outcropping mineralization and buried kimberlites indicate it may be. The demonstration of variability above a known occurrence of mineralisation buried below glacial till through differences between the genomic patterns relative to the background may lead to industrial application of genomic tools...

ISRU is the backbone of future space exploration, and collection of the regolith feedstock (aka mining) is the first step in the process. The inaugural PISCES Robotic International Space Mining competition was held July 2014 at the Planetary Analog site on Hawai`i island. Modeled after the NASA Lunabotics competition (now renamed the Robotic Mining Competition), this university-level event takes the NASA competition into a real analog field environment and (in distinction to the current...

The presentation will give an overview of existing and prospective iron ore mines in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, including the expansion and subsequent contraction of iron ore output from the province during the period 2011 to 2015. Particular focus will be given to government-led initiatives designed to increase the sustainability of iron ore mining in the province, including investments in electricity generation and transmission, new industrial power rates, a new Aboriginal...

Vault is the 3rd pit after Portage and Goose to be in production at the Meadowbank Mine, Nunavut. It is a satellite deposit located 7km North-East of the main camp. Vault was originally permitted at the same time as the other pits but was left at the end of the life-of-mine because of the distance involved, its lower grade and the capital required to bring it into production. This presentation tells the story behind the scoping and the execution of this intricate project driven by a tight...

Core extraction in mineral exploration involves drilling deep holes and pulling core samples for geological analysis, in order to find an ore body. The geologist requires high quality and properly oriented core to create a model of the ground formation. The exploration industry provides major/junior mining companies with the tools to quickly explore a land mass for valuable mineral deposits. Tools include drills, drill strings, bits, retrieval devices, and core orientation and similar...

The real costs of managing the often complex social aspects of mineral exploration and mining projects are described drawing on data from projects in the Americas and Australasia. Once understood, the challenges of building and maintaining positive relationships with local communities and other stakeholders can be translated into proactive management practices. Process is paramount: hence it is not what you do, it’s very much how you do it that creates the outcomes desired by both company...

Resource companies do not have the luxury of doing business only in low-risk jurisdictions. They must go where the resources are located and be prepared to do business in jurisdictions where the rule of law is weak and institutional governance is weaker. Compliance with anti-corruption laws is mandatory, but compliance costs can be managed to maximize effectiveness and value for investment. The presentation will consider approaches that mitigate risk while keeping out-of-pocket and indirect...

Equipment and systems currently being used in underground mining need to become more productive, easier to track, diagnose and maintain by taking advantage of advances made in other fields such as transportation, aerospace, robotics and the military. This can be accomplished by operating unattended through breaks and shift changes, producing less heat and exhaust emissions thereby reducing ventilation requirements, and being integrated with real time information systems that allow for better...

Since 2005, NML has performed multiple pilot plant and test programs to develop their processing flowsheet. The traditional flowsheet based on a SAG mill proved to be more power intensive than alternate flowsheets using HPGRs. HPGRs were chosen to reduce power requirements and improve the operating cost of the process plant. Since only the magnetic iron is recovered during process, progressive grinding and liberation is applied to further reduce the power consumption. Finally, flotation is...

Gas flow in induration furnaces is a critical parameter for iron ore pellet productivity and quality. A triboelectric flowmeter, which measures the gas flow based on the speed of fine particles present in the gas, has been installed in the ducts of a travelling grate at ArcelorMittal Mining Canada (AMEM) in Port-Cartier since June 2011. When combined with the standard instrumentation found in furnaces (temperature, pressure, etc.), it enables a better understanding of the conditions prevailin...

This topic will discuss the emerging needs for Asset Management data and fundamentals as technology embraces Clouds, The Internet of Things, Mobility and Analytics to drive optimized value and return on assets.More and more technology is being introduced to manage assets as more production assets are IP addressed (Internet of things). Systems are moving to cloud based solutions and employees are more IT enabled through mobile products are every before.This presentation will discuss the...

Even though mining industry put a specific emphasis on reliability, maintenance and safety over the last 30 years, major safety problems and accidents have still been observed because the operations are managed by humans. Since human contribution to operation reliability is a multi-disciplinary area interacting with cultural studies, psychology, design, education and engineering, it is a difficult aspect to research. This research aims to analyze and classify human errors and intends to...

We have demonstrated the ability to travel to and/or place objects on the Moon, Mars, other planets and now, asteroids. Futuristic entrepreneurial thinkers are looking to these objects as potential source for water, oxygen, metals and other elements necessary to sustain life off this planet.

How can we establish and orderly system to record and manage rights to these resources.

We propose that looking at the history of claims in North America can provide the best guidelines. Understandi...

For more than “green” reasons, a gradual shift from fossil fuels in the mining sector can be beneficial: there can be efficiency gains by going electric, and air quality considerations in underground mines can be greatly reduced. When one looks beyond terrestrial mining, electric power sources become one of the most viable ways to power equipment. This presentation outlines an extra-terrestrial capable hydrogen fuel cell/battery hybrid power system concept that combines the versatility of a...

We present a parametric sizing model of a Molten Regolith Electrolysis (MRE) reactor to produce oxygen and molten metals from lunar regolith. A multiphysics simulation of the reactor, including electrochemistry and thermodynamics, is leveraged to generate a wide tradespace of high-fidelity reactor designs. This multiphysics simulation is integrated into an MRE reactor model to predict the mass, power, and size of the reactor given a set of design constraints and performance goals. This...

Oceanic Iron Ore Corp's Hopes Advance project is a projected high quality, low cost, coastal iron ore deposit with no third party reliance for infrastructure. The company is pursuing the development of this world class seaborne supply source against a backdrop of increases in supply and lower iron ore pricing. The presentation will summarize the Hopes Advance project development, the effects of lower iron ore prices and lower oil prices coupled with a lower Canadian dollar on the project's...

The Canada Mining Innovation Council Energy Workgroup has recently completed a prefeasibility study on low grade energy recovery technologies for the mining sector. Energy recovery technologies can recover lost energy sources and convert them to useful energy such as heat sources, power generation, in fleet hybridization, and others. An evaluation matrix tool has been developed under the guidance of the industry representative in the CMIC energy group. The evaluation tool focuses on three...

As the number of operational technologies available for mobile mining equipment continues to grow,so too does the complexity of device interconnectivity and data management. The GMSG Technology and Connectivity Working Group has been working towards the introduction of an industry standard or guideline to enable open data transfer that will increase operating efficiencies and reduce the cost of integration of new technologies within the mine.

A sound geological model is the foundation for robust resource estimation, efficient mine planning and effective near-mine exploration. The geological model can only fulfill these roles if it evolves as data, ideas and knowledge develop during the life of a project. The model must be performance-tested, validated and revised as necessary, particularly in the early years of mine life, when deductions and interpretations made from drillhole data are supplemented (and perhaps superseded) by...

Mont-Wright Tailings Storage Facility has been active since 1976 and is operated by ArcelorMittal Mining Canada. It is located in the region of Fermont, Quebec province. With an area of 20 km² and over 100 meters high in some places, it is one of the largest Tailings Deposit in North America. Since 2014, nearly 45 million tons of tailings are confined each year in Mont-Wright. At this rate, the current tailings will be at full capacity in ten years. Despite the global iron ore mining context,...

Mine tailings are typically rehabilitated to resemble the original ecosystem present before mining. However, rehabilitated mine tailings may still represent a long term financial liability as a result of perpetual monitoring and maintenance costs. Research led by CanmetMINING of Natural Resources Canada and in association with industry, academic and government stakeholders has demonstrated the feasibility of using organic residuals as covers on mine tailings to support the establishment of...

Raglan Mine’s installations are located at the extreme limit of Northern Québec, where it operates one of the richest base-metal mines in the world. The Raglan Mine property stretches 70 kilometers from east to west, with a series of high-grade ore deposits scattered along its length.Qakimajurq – which means “rich” in Inuktitut - is Raglan Mine’s fourth underground mine in activity. Despite this project’s successful outcome, steps to complete its construction were not all easy. The...

Automated ventilation network management also known as Ventilation-on Demand (VOD) represents one of the best opportunities for the mining sector to reduce the energy costs associated with the mineral extraction process. Ventilation can amount to as much as 40% of the extraction energy costs and even modest reductions in energy consumption can translate into millions of dollars in savings yearly and reduced GHG emissions. A few years ago, CanmetMINING conducted work in collaboration with the...

Induration furnaces are difficult to control in optimal way, as it is highly interactive with long time delays on the pellet side, contrasting with very rapid response on the gas side. In addition, the high level of interaction makes the process inherently difficult to control tightly with the conventional controls that are usually implemented. A modern multivariable advanced process control has been implemented that maintains or improves pellet quality and process safety by good control of...

Mining related tailings and water management facilities occupy a significant footprint in the natural environment. Effective management and technical standards are required to reduce impacts and risks associated with the life cycle of these facilities, starting at the exploration phase. This paper sets out a framework for the minimum management processes and technical requirements that mining companies should address in the planning, design, construction, operation and closure of tailings...

Modern tailing dam designs evolved with and from the developing state of practice for water dams, since the mid 1960’s and continue to evolve today. Tailing dams are a unique variation of water dams and, while the geotechnical principles used for water dams apply equally to tailing dams, there are distinct differences in design of the dam section. Implementation of good design practice starts with understanding the site conditions, properties of the tailings, and geotechnical properties of...

Independent review boards are becoming common on mine waste projects developed by the major mining companies, on projects involving large dams, and for mine waste management facilities with complex climatic, geological, hydrogeological and geochemical conditions. Review boards are most effective when set up during the initial stages of the project development, preferably during the site selection process and continued through the life of the project. This maintains a history and understandin...

Responsible tailings disposal at Minnesota taconite minesP. B. Solseng, Barr Engineering Co., USAT. W. Skoglund, Barr Engineering Co., USAAbstractTailings disposal has been taking place in Minnesota’s iron range for over 100 years, first with the wash plants from the high grade ore and since the 1950’s, with taconite. Taconite is about 35 percent iron so about 65 percent of the mined ore is tailings. This paper discusses the practices currently used for tailings disposal in Minnesota. ...

Crushed rock size is an important variable for primary grinding mills operation. While traditional 2D vision systems perform well for many kinds of SAG feed materials, they fail to measure adequately AG feed iron ore particle size distributions (PSD). Three dimensional cameras are proven to produce accurate PSD measurement for this type of material. A technique developed at COREM that overcomes the limitations of 2D segmentation vision systems by using 3D cameras and appropriate processing...

This presentation highlights a cost effective technique for vertical bench blasting at underground aggregate mining operations. After driving the horizontal advance, the mine in this case study develops a second vertical bench that is approximately seven meters deep. Historically, the vertical bench was drilled and blasted to full depth in one cut. The short benching technique is to blast the vertical bench in two separate lifts. The first lift is drilled only three and a half meters deep...

Several recent publications have addressed the way Tailings Management Facilities (TMF) are designed and operated in Canada, and in Quebec in particular. The stability assessment can no longer account only for one final configuration, but must take into account the different stages in the TMF development in order to address the increasingly complex design schemes put together to answer the challenging environmental and social context of mining projects. Even though complex design tools for...

Geophysical techniques are used in prospecting for natural resources on Earth. One such technique is ground gravity surveying, in which highly sensitive gravimeters are used to make measurements of the local gravity field strength at many locations on the ground in an area being surveyed. Variations in those measurements reflect variations in the density of the rock beneath the survey area, which in turn can provide indications of the local geology, from which potential locations of valuable...

Underground mining last underwent a major transformation in the 1940s and 50s with the introduction of mechanized equipment. New technologies, mining methods and work practices were developed that resulting in new mining flow sheets that drove significant commercial value.

Over the last 50 years mines have pushed deeper and mines designs, work practices and flow sheets have had to adapt. This continuous adaptation has introduced significant complexity to the industry but more importantly...

In most major mining jurisdictions, mine closure is an amorphous concept with no clearly defined end. Completion criteria are often ambiguous, ill-defined, and inconsistent across jurisdictions resulting in uncertainty in approaches to mine closure for operators, unclear standards for regulators, and confusion for communities and stakeholders at large. Furthermore, the lack of a defined end for site relinquishment often leads to the management of sites in perpetuity and, should a company...

Water quality monitoring is one of the most time-consuming and costly components of environmental baseline monitoring programs for mine developers and operators. The monitoring is a core component of the environmental assessment process as well as a practical tool for environmental management throughout the mine life cycle.

Water quality monitoring is typically conducted by way of grab sampling where individuals physically go to sampling points, take the sample, and then transport of...

Atlas Copco, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of mining equipment, has partnered with the Northlands College Mine School, located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, to develop efficient and cost effective methods to train people to operate mining equipment. Northlands and Atlas Copco will use state of the art Atlas Copco simulators to train and certify entry level and advanced underground miners. This presentation will provide background on the history of the development of mine...

For the past 15 years, COREM, with its unique approach in research, has created numerous innovations for the mineral processing industry. Its highly qualified team, flexible pilot plant and complete laboratories are fundamental in the success of the organisation, but being able to rely on key strategies has also shown to be essential in maximizing the hit rate of COREM’s research program. Always keeping a well-balanced research program portfolio, working with the right partners at the right...

In this paper we discuss the advantages of using an admittance-based digging algorithm to issue the high frequency commands required to load a bucket with fragmented rock. Currently these commands must be provided by an expert human operator, working with limited environmental feedback. These high frequency digging commands become ineffective if there is significant communication delay between the operator and the mining vehicle, as would be the case on many celestial bodies. The admittance-b...

Agnico Eagle’s Goldex operation is a low grade gold mine located in the Abitibi region of North-western Quebec, approximately 650 km north of Montreal. Upon startup in 2008, mining was focused on the Goldex Extension Zone ("GEZ"), using a novel bulk mining method. However, ore production from the GEZ had to be suspended in October 2011 due to geotechnical concerns with the rock above the mining horizon. During the suspension, work on site focused on monitoring, assessment and remediation. ...

Agnico Eagle’s flagship LaRonde Mine is exploiting a world class Au-Ag-Cu-Zn massive sulfide lenses complex. It is located in the Abitibi Region of northwestern Quebec, approximately 650 km northwest of Montreal. With more than 4 Moz of gold in proven and probable reserves, Laronde has one of the largest gold deposits of any mine operating in Canada. These reserves extend from surface down to 3,110m and remain open at depth. LaRonde’s ore production is around 6,300t per day with the...

A thorough review of global iron ore trade flows over the past decade is presented, highlighting trends and events that have shaped present day market dynamics. As China moved into a dominant role as the leading global consumer of iron ore, the rest of the world pursued strategies to meet increasing demand. Shifts in the market, government rulings, and the race to bring new capacity into production defined a new era in iron-ore economics. Large-scale production increases in Australia combined...